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The costs of a regional approach to address flooding along two river forks that run through Highland Park, Lake Forest and Deerfield outweigh the potential benefits, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The recent conclusion comes after Highland Park officials last year asked the federal...

More than a dozen people – including emergency responders – had to receive medical treatment Thursday after preparations to open the pool at a Lincolnshire condominium complex turned into a hazmat incident. “We’re not sure if (pool staff) were mixing chemicals,” said Lincolnshire-Riverwoods fire...

Robert Serritella was found guilty Thursday of first-degree murder in the 1992 death of 15-year-old David Chereck of Skokie. Serritella, 76, of Park Ridge, was charged in 2014 in the decades-old cold case. Chereck was found strangled with his own scarf in a Morton Grove forest preserve. “The state...

As many as 30,000 guns may still be in the possession of Illinois residents deemed too dangerous to have them, according to a Tribune investigation. In an analysis of data released for the first time, the Tribune found the state has repeatedly failed to ensure that people surrender their weapons...

A new plan to put a countywide tax on hotels and motels in DuPage County would decrease the competitive advantage Naperville hotels and motels have over those in other towns and counties, city council members said with a resolution they approved Tuesday. Naperville City Council members unanimously...

Like all projects the East Aurora High School Survivor Literature class has done over the last decade, this year’s was bold and unique. In the past, for example, in order to draw attention to social issues, students under the leadership of teachers Shane and Sarah Gillespie have walked 16 miles...

Good editors are worth their weight in gold. That’s a major lesson to learn in the internet age when anyone, anywhere, can publish anything in an instant with the press of a button. Unfortunately, it is a lesson learned too late by the yearbook editors at both Oak Park-River Forest and Highland...

It was a bit of a “Jeopardy!” squeaker Thursday for James Holzhauer, who could have gone home the loser (albeit not an empty-handed one) had he not known his jazz history and Duke Ellington song catalog. The Naperville native went into Final Jeopardy with just $5,400 separating him from challenger...

Recreational vehicle owners may be getting their wish to park in their driveways. Elgin’s city council is poised to change an ordinance prohibiting RVs in neighborhoods. An amendment the council is considering would allow motorized RVs that are less than 25 feet long, 8 feet wide and 10 feet high...

Police in Mundelein and Wauconda said they each are investigating a recent rash of vandalism involving derogatory statements. Wauconda Police Chief David Wermes said a swastika with a derogatory statement directed toward African Americans was found depicted in paint at Orchard Hills Park in the...

Independent air testing around two Lake County facilities that use a carcinogenic chemical is still on track to begin June 1 despite receiving local approval later than originally planned, a Lake County Health Department spokeswoman said. Lake County teamed up with Waukegan and Gurnee to split...

A Waukegan company is pledging to dramatically reduce its emissions of cancer-causing ethylene oxide, even as it urges the Trump administration to reject decades of research showing the volatile gas is far more dangerous than previously thought. Under a proposal sent to the Illinois Environmental...

Two people were killed Wednesday night after being struck by a Metra train in Joliet, a Metra spokesman said. The victims, whose names have not been released, were among a group of four people between the ages of 16 and 20 who were trespassing on train tracks that span a bridge near Lincoln Highway,...

Past the southeastern tip of Lake Michigan’s horseshoe shoreline, beyond the rustling hum of cottonwood trees and prickly jack pines, a boy walked up to the silver water creeping up West Beach and dared it to strike his toes. The city of Chicago was a shadow miles away and straight ahead. As he...

La Grange police have increased patrols in the area around Catherine and Harris avenues after a 10-year-old boy reported being approached Tuesday by a man in a black SUV. Investigator Adam Coleman said Thursday that the investigation was continuing into the alleged incident. Initially, police determined...

The Hinsdale High School District 86 Board is bumping up the pay of 11 administrators and support staff to make their salaries closer to what their peers earn in similar high school districts. However, a 25 percent raise was not enough to keep Karen Warner, the district’s chief communications officer....

New tobacco or other nicotine-related businesses will not be allowed to open in Glenview until at least early-fall while the Village Board and Plan Commission take a closer look at modifying regulation of smoke shops and other similar concerns. The board passed a measure at the May 7 meeting that...

Not long after Nnedi Okorafor finished her freshman year at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1993, she came home to Flossmoor and played tennis. She played daily, she played for hours. That had always been the plan. She had been playing tennis since she was 9. She was nationally ranked;...

Two offensive quotes, including one tied to Nazi leaders, selected by Highland Park High School students that appeared underneath their senior photos have forced the school to temporarily stop distribution of its yearbooks, officials announced. The decision to halt yearbook distribution came after...

Suburban sports

Lake Central’s Makeda Ellis had her breakthrough moment as a junior. It’s a common occurrence for high school athletes — the instant they realize their potential. It happened for Ellis last spring when she produced a 40-foot throw in the shot put for the very first time. Assistant coach Jeanette...

After being drafted in the fifth round by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2017, Kane County Cougars third baseman Buddy Kennedy picked up a nickname in the Arizona Rookie League. The Millville, N.J. native pounded out 17 extra-base hits in his first 50 professional games that summer, earning him the...

CHARLESTON, Ill. — Lincoln-Way East junior A.J. Henning is no stranger to elite competition. The 6-foot, 185-pound Henning is one of the top football players in the Midwest. He has offers from Alabama, Michigan, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, LSU, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State and Penn...

Most read stories this hour

This probably wasn’t the kind of Budweiser tab Anthony Rizzo had in mind. Rizzo’s home run Wednesday night hit the “d” in Wrigley Field’s Budweiser sign over the right-field video board, knocking out some of its neon lights. On Thursday, a mock invoice on Cubs letterhead “charged” the first baseman...

It was a rough week on “Jeopardy!” for James Holzhauer. But it ended Friday with the Naperville native finally surpassing $2 million and trouncing his competition. While it came down to the Final Jeopardy to determine the winner Thursday, Holzhauer bowled over his challengers the next day, bringing...

The Marquee Sports Network is set to launch in February as the exclusive local television home of the Cubs, adding year-round, 24/7 programming to sate even the most diehard fans, and an increased charge on the cable bill to infuriate those who are not. A partnership between the Cubs and Sinclair...

The expectant mother was overjoyed as a faint pink line appeared on the pregnancy test, a culmination of two years of infertility and in vitro fertilization treatments. The pregnancy was considered high-risk early on. But it wasn’t until April, at just past 24 weeks, that she and her husband learned...

On a block in Lawndale, a woman sat alone in her white car Friday night, staring at the spot where she saw a 15-year-old boy fall to the ground. “I thought he was dead at first,” said the woman, who identified herself as Rosa. “It makes me sad, because right where he got shot was where I was standing....

The security guard fatally shot by a Midlothian police officer outside a Robbins bar last November was struck four times in the back and side, according to an autopsy report released this month. Jemel Roberson, who was subduing a shooting suspect at gunpoint on the ground outside Manny’s Blue Room...

Kyle Schwarber continues to cement his spot at the top of the lineup. Anthony Rizzo continues to take dead aim at the Budweiser sign beyond the right-field wall. And the bullpen continues to cause headaches. After the Cubs eked across the go-ahead run in the eighth inning Friday, Steve Cishek gave...

Not long after Nnedi Okorafor finished her freshman year at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1993, she came home to Flossmoor and played tennis. She played daily, she played for hours. That had always been the plan. She had been playing tennis since she was 9. She was nationally ranked;...

North Siders — consider yourselves warned. The CTA is setting a timeline for its biggest-ever construction project, and it will involve track shutdowns, roadwork and the closing of two Red Line stations for more than three years. The $2.1 billion Red-Purple Line modernization project, the costliest...

Even for Chicago, with its endemic violence, the killing of 2-year-old Kyrian Knox stood out as among the most grisly in recent history. Kyrian’s young mother, Lanisha Knox, had left him at the Rockford home of a friend’s father for a couple of weeks in August 2015 as she and the friend traveled...

A longtime member of the Chicago Fire Department died when the SUV he was driving smashed into a large tree on a curvy road in Beverly Hills, Calif., early Friday, officials said. Nathaniel Ervin, 47, joined the department in 2004 as a firefighter EMT but was promoted to engineer last year, said...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service detected several traces of Asian carp DNA in a body of water on Chicago’s Far South Side, a mere 7 miles from Lake Michigan, the agency announced last week. After collecting hundreds of water samples from Chicago-area waterways last month, the Fish and Wildlife...

It's been a year since I last tackled where to eat lunch in the Loop, and if I've learned anything, it's to always expect change. New restaurants open, old favorites close and time marches on. Trends that were once ascendant (poke) have faded, while others (Indian cuisine) are growing exponentially....

“For the next 12 weeks,” my waiter at Next intoned, “we’re going to be the best Italian restaurant in Chicago.” Bold talk, considering Chicago’s abundance of excellent Italian restaurants. And indeed, when I mentioned the boast to executive chef Edgar Tinoco, he was quick to distance himself. “I...

Here are our favorite things Chicago has to do this weekend, including Bike the Drive, Mole de Mayo, a summer cocktail party, House Music Fest and Jamila Woods. Bike the Drive Lake Shore Drive is a fantastic ride in a car, but it’s also a great bike ride. Grab your helmet and enjoy a 30-mile, vehicle-less...

The following items were taken from area police department reports and releases. An arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt. Elmhurst Alcohol Liam Herrera, 21, of the 700 block of South Bryan Street, Elmhurst, was charged with disorderly conduct – public intoxication at 2:15 a.m. May 18 on...

A West Side man was arrested when investigators found him in an Arlington Heights hotel room he was using to allegedly prostitute a 24-year-old woman, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office. Gabriel Johnson, 31, of the 1100 block of North Leclaire Avenue, was charged with promoting prostitution...

A Des Plaines man pleaded guilty Friday to the ambush slaying of his former girlfriend in the parking lot of her Bensenville apartment, according to DuPage County prosecutors. Victor Tornez-Sanchez, 29, entered a blind guilty plea to first-degree murder in the death of Olivia Renteria-Bravo, who...

Chuck Pagano stood behind a set of white barrels Wednesday at Halas Hall. The unit that led the NFL in scoring defense and takeaways in 2018 — nearly intact — was in front of him. Methodically during Wednesday’s OTA at Halas Hall, they went through plays with linebackers filling gaps. The new Bears...

Ever since Target Field opened in 2010, with its sweeping, open-air views of the Minneapolis skyline, baseball officials, with a tinge of gallows humor, have braced themselves for the possibility of late-October/early-November playoff games in a city where the average lows for those months are...

Pacific Garden Mission, the city’s largest homeless shelter, is often the only facility with an open bed, advocates say. But some former residents claim that the shelter, as their only option, is not accommodating to people with disabilities. Others complain about its Christian mission, including...

Dear Amy: I’m a happily married woman in my 30s. Two years ago, my mom tragically died of cancer, which devastated my father. A year after that, he married “Maria.” While I’m thrilled that Dad seems happy and less lonely, I can’t help but notice how cruel Maria seems to be. The first thing she...

Twenty years, 10 months and two weeks after her daughter vanished, Cynthia Haag was inside the row house she refused to abandon - lest her missing child come back - when her phone started to ring. Her other daughter was on the line, saying she'd just gotten an unexpected message on Facebook. It...

The Oak Park and River Forest High School board has decided to reprint the 2018-2019 yearbook after more than a dozen photos of students engaging in the “circle game” were discovered inside. The high school will pay Jostens $53,794 to reprint the yearbooks, and officials say they hope to have the...